ToeJam
Category:Games ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron is a platform video game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. The game is the sequel to cult video game ToeJam & Earl, released in 1991. The game concerns two alien protagonists, ToeJam and Earl, both of whom have escaped from Earth, where they had crash landed. After returning to their home planet of Funkotron, the duo discover a number of antagonistic Earthlings have stowed away on the spacecraft and are wreaking havoc across the planet. The player must hunt down these Earthlings and imprison them in jars before sending them back to Earth. Plot The game follows on the events of the first game, in which funky aliens ToeJam and Earl crash landed on Earth. After managing to rebuild their spaceship and returning safely to their home planet of Funkotron, the duo soon learn that a bunch of Earthlings had stowed away on their craft and have now invaded Funkotron.3 With the humans spreading panic across the planet's citizens, even scaring the source of all funk, Lamont the Funkapotomus, away to another dimension, it is up to ToeJam and Earl to clean up the mess they've made and send all the Earthlings they brought with them back to where they came from. Development After the success of the original game, Johnson Voorsanger Productions began work on a sequel in 1992. The developer spent three to four months building on the original mechanics, adding elements such as indoor areas and additional terrain types, though the randomly generated levels were removed. The plot of this prototype would see ToeJam and Earl "return to Earth to stage a rap concert, only to find they've lost their CDs" which would form the basis of the game's treasure hunt. According to the Johnson and Voorsanger, the game would feature "more default items" for the characters to "use all the time", new items and characters, and more detail and secret areas allowed by the fixed (rather than randomly generated) levels. The game employed a larger development team than the first installment and was originally projected for a Christmas 1992 release, and titled ToeJam & Earl 2. Sega however conferred that they did not "understand" the game and though the "decision was still ultimately with Johnson and Voorsanger", the developer started work on a more generic side-scrolling platform game, a concept to which Sega had been more receptive. The increased size of the game's cartridge over the original allowed for greater graphical detail. The soundtrack, including the original theme, was remixed and given a more layered quality. Gameplay Unlike its predecessor, Panic on Funkotron is a side-scrolling platform game in which up to two players play as ToeJam and Earl as they travel across Funkotron to capture antagonistic Earthlings that had stowed away.6 Players accomplish this by using a radar to locate an Earthling's proximity (some Earthlings may be hidden in the environment) and attack them with jars in order to trap and collect them. Once all Earthlings have been found, the player can move on to the next level.7 Players can collect presents containing various bonuses, such as super jars, radar scans, and teleporting moves. Coins can be used with parking meters to trigger events in the environment or participate in minigames such as Jam Outs and Fungus Olympics. Players can also enter gateways leading to the Hyper Funk Zone, where the player must avoid obstacles in order to earn more presents. Hidden throughout the game are ten objects belonging to Lamont the Funkapotamus; collecting all of which will earn the player the best ending upon completion. Trivia * The game's platform format was a departure from the original ToeJam & Earl, a treasure hunt game with randomly generated levels, inspired by the game Rogue * Creators Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger originally began designing a game built on the concepts of the original, but changed to a more generic type of game due to a lack of support for their vision on the part of Sega * The game was critically well received, with reviewers praising the graphics, soundtrack, fluid action and two-player mode * It was also a commercial success, but fans of ToeJam & Earl were disappointed and confused by the radical change in direction. * Since its release ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron has been criticized for being too sharp a departure from the first game, and some later reviewers felt that the developers had been more interested in the publisher's wishes than the fans * T''oeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron was re-released in 2007 for the Wii's Virtual Console, receiving mixed reviews * ''ToeJam & Earl 2 was listed on GamesRadar at #10 on "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time"